Method of packaging coffee



Patented- July 23, 1.935 I 2,009,3 21

METHOD OF PACKAGING COFFEE Ronald B. McKinnis, Pittsburgh, Pa, assignor to Continental Can, Company, Inc, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York No Drawing. Application July 28, 1932, Serial 2 Claims. (Cl. 99-8) The invention relates to new and useful imagain subjected to a vacuum treatment for drawprovements in hermetically sealing ground coffee ing from the coifee more oxygen and the inert in metal containers. gas, and thereby reducing to a smaller limit the An object of the invention is to provide a amount of oxygen retainedinthe container. The

5 method of packaging coffee whereby the sealed container is sealed, either under vacuum or with 5 container is relieved of excessive pressure causing an inert gas therein, and when it is sealed there undue strains on the container and the swelling is still a small amount of oxygen in the coffee or bulging of the walls thereof, product and in the container. The sealed con- A further object of the invention is to provide tainers are then heated to a temperature of from a method of packaging coffee whereby air and the 100 C. to 120 C. for approximately thirty min- 10 oxygen content thereof, is removed from the coflites and t e e t thereof are preferably fee product and the container so that the coffee gitated du i heating y rotating- The heatis maintained sealed in a container in an atmosg o t e Conta n a d h agitating 0f the phere free from oxygen. contents thereof during heating, result in the It is well known that coffee contains within its sorbing of the last trace of oxygen from the 16 cells a gas under high pressure which gradually atmosphere Wit the Container- T quick evolves from the coffee and over a period of sevabscrption f the o y du t t e a n of eral days, even when the coffee is ground. Coffee the co e t o t C ntai e d s t in y when sealed in containers, even in vacuum, will Way impair the quality of the coffee, which s 20 replace the vacuum with the evolving coffee gas likely to 000111 through the 510W voletilizetien of 20 d ause a swelling of the ends of the the aromatic constituents in the presence of oxytainer. gen at normal room temperature.

It is also well known that when coffee contacts AS e result y improved method of P with the oxygen of the air and particularly after aging coffee, the eoflee is retained in a metal he evolving gas has passed from the cofiee, r container which is sealed in an atmosphere free as substantial portion thereof, the oxygen contacts from Oxygen a Without the Presence of the with theoils of the coffee, causing rancidity, a evolving eofiee gas 80 that there is no strain on loss of flavor and staleness of the collee product. the Co tainer or resulting swelling o bulging f Efforts have been made to remove the oxygen the Walls of the containerfrom the ainer by drawing a very high degree Having thus fully described the invention, what 30 of vacuum thereon and also by replacing the vacu- I Claim as new and desire to Secure by L s um with an inert gas and repeating the operation Patent is; through several cycles; There is still oxygen left 1. The method of packagin roasted Coffee in the container and the coflee product. Sisting in nding the roasted coffee, subject In carrying out the present invention, the cof h freshly ground p ticles of oofiee to pres- 35 fee is first roasted and is then ground in any Sure for reducing said coffee particles to the form well known manner to produce broken coffee parof thin flakes of such uniform thinness as to exticles. These coffee particles are tempered and D fIOm e coffee pa t cles the coffee gas there- "passed through rolls sothat the particles are placing the Coffee flakes in a metal container,

crushed and the coffee gas, or the greater portion subjecting the container to vacuum, replacing 40 thereof, in the cells of the coffee forcibly exthe vacuum with an inert, gas, and sealing the pelled therefrom. This reduces the coffee particontainer. cles to very thin flakes which are firm and can be 2. A method of Packaging roasted coffee readily handled for the packaging of the same. sisting -in gr d g t e roasted c subjecting In my Patent No. 1,903,362, I have shown, dethe ground particles of coffee to pressurefor re- 45 scribed and claimed, a coffee product and the timing said coffee particles to the form of thin method of making the same, whereby the coffee flakes of such uniform thinness as to expel from gas is expelled from the cells of the coffee parthe coffee particles the coffee gas therein, placticlesr ing the coffee flakes in a metal container, sub- The coffee flakes with the coffee gas, or a jectingthe container to vacuum, replacing the 50 greater portion thereof, expelled therefrom, are vacuum with an inert gas, sealing the container, placed in a metal container and the container is and heating the container to a temperature and then subjected to a vacuum creating apparatus for a time suflicient to quickly absorb the last for drawing a vacuum thereon. The vacuum may trace of oxygen from the container.

.% be replaced by an inert gas and the container RONALD B. McKINNIS. 

